they're going to send us a clean debt ceiling bill. the other stuff on it will athat when we need to. i'm glad we're not facing crisis here in a matter of a few days. >> sreenivasan: president obama said he wanted a longer-term extension of the debt ceiling. but a white house spokesman said today the president will accept a short-term bill if it reaches his desk. without an extension, the government could run out of money within a month. a deep freeze lingered in the upper midwest today with temperatures dropping in some places to minus 30 fahrenheit. wind chills made it even worse. across the region, people bundled up to face the cold, and some schools closed. frigid arctic air swept down from canada last saturday. authorities attribute at least three deaths to the weather so far. american military transport planes have joined the french effort to repel islamist rebels in mali. pentagon spokesman george little confirmed today that u.s. c-17's have flown five missions to the african nation in recent days. they ferried more than 80 fren